Hinduism an Honors Thesis
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Hinduism An Honors Thesis (HONRS 499) By Noelle K. Nuebler Thesis Advisor Barbara Stedman - Ball State University Muncie, Indiana December 1999 Expected Date of Graduation: Fall 1999 l-P ,~/~ i 2('1 , .-7L/ To Jui: Who held things together when I could not. - Acknowledgments Thank you to Dr. Barbara Stedman for taking on the extra responsibility of advising my thesis and for understanding and supporting my decision to change my thesis topic. Special thanks to Jui Shankar, my roommate and friend, for agreeing to let me interview her and for answering all my questions about Hinduism. Thanks also to Ashis Dutta and Kamal Lohani for their perspectives on Hinduism. Thank you to Dr. Padmini Joshi for not only answering my questions about Hinduism, but also for lending me her book on Hinduism. - .- Abstract Since Hinduism is so complex, it is impossible to discuss every aspect of this religion in one paper. Instead of giving an overview of Hinduism, I have decided to focus on several parts of Hinduism: religious holidays; Gods, Goddesses, and their meaning; prayer, forgiveness, and life after death; spiritual exercise; and Hinduism in practice. I addressed these subjects through research and through interviews in order to get a diverse perspective on Hinduism. I could not write about Hinduism without including a section on its holidays, since religious holidays are such an important part of Indian culture. I chose the topic Gods, Goddesses, and their meaning, because I wanted to know the role that God or Gods play in Hinduism. This naturally led to the topic of prayer and Hindus' relationship with their God or Gods. Some Hindus believe in an after-life, and I wanted to know how a - Hindu might attain a blissful life after death. I also addressed the topic of forgiveness for sinful behavior, because, in my own religion, Christianity, one must acquire forgiveness before he or she achieves a blissful life after death. Finally, I discussed spiritual exercise and Hinduism in practice to see how Hindus practice their religion day to day. From research, I achieved a better understanding of Hinduism. Through interviewing three Hindus, I discovered that not everyone agrees with every aspect of their religion. Also, I found that Christianity and Hinduism are not so drastically different as I originally thought. - Since the beginning of my college career, I have always been interested in other cultures. Classes and seminars on other cultures attracted me, and people from other cultures especially caught my attention. As I became friends with people from other countries, I discovered how little I knew and understood about people and places outside of the United States. I wanted to expand my knowledge oflndian culture specifically, because my roommate is Indian. When deciding on what part of Indian culture I wanted to concentrate my focus, I decided that religion would be an ideal topic. Religion is an important part of Indian culture, and many of India's traditions and holidays come from Hinduism, which is India's major religion. Although there are many sources on the study of Hinduism, I wanted a more personal, subjective look at Hinduism. As with all religions, each person interprets his or her religion in his or her own way. I wanted to obtain a diverse perspective on Hinduism, - and I planned on achieving this by interviewing three Hindus. My first interviewee is Jui Shankar, age 26 years. She is from the city of Po ona (close to Bombay) in the state of Maharashtra, which is the western part of India. She lived in India for 26 years and moved to the United States 4 months ago. Also, I interviewed Ashis Dutta, age 26 years, who is from the eastern part of India and lives in the city of Calcutta, West Bengal. He moved to the United States a year and a half ago. Prior to living in the United States, he lived in India for 25 years. My final interviewee is Kamal Lohani, who is from Nepal, north oflndia (see Figure I for all locations). He is 36 years old. Kamal moved to the United States when he was 25 years old, roughly ten years ago. Alongside these interviews, which depict several Hindus' opinions, I show the framework of Hinduism through research. Through research, I hoped to acquire a better understanding of -- Hinduism, and, through interviewing, I hoped to gain a unique perspective as seen through the eyes of Hindus. Hinduism is a complex religion. It is difficult to understand every part of Hinduism, even after a lifetime of study. For this reason, I am concentrating on only certain parts of Hinduism: religious holidays; Gods, Goddesses, and their meaning; prayer, forgiveness, and life after death; spiritual exercise; and Hinduism in practice. I compare and contrast these parts of Hinduism with Christianity, my own religion. Religious Holidays As with Christianity, Hinduism has many religious holidays. Most agree that holidays are a time not only for celebrating their religious significance, but also for - family and friends to gather. Ashis described the holidays as a time for family to congregate: "Holidays are big. Not because they're associated with a particular religious meaning, but because that's the time when you actually come together. Growing up in a very small family, my parents and me only, made the holidays a time to intermingle with lots of people. So, that was good." Kamal agreed: "It is a time for family union, prayer, and practice of age-old traditions." The first major holiday, Pongal, is sometimes also called Makara Sankranti or Lohri. This three-day celebration falls on the 14th of January. Different parts ofIndia celebrate this holiday in distinct ways, although the harvest of crops and a feast on this day is common (Patil35-37). Jui described this holiday as the celebration of the harvest season: "You're going to harvest your crops to get ready for new ones. You're supposed - to give sesame seed andjaggery (unrefined sugar) together so it becomes like Rice 2 Crispies, but with sesame seeds. What we say in Maharashtra, it's like a couplet. You eat this, and you speak good things only. So that's the first festival we celebrate at home." The next major holiday is Holi, which celebrates the end of winter in March (Indian Holidays). Phag and Shimga are other names for Holi. This holiday is also described as the most colorful festival in India, because people decorate themselves with colored water and powder. During Holi, people make sacrifices to the God of fire, Hutashani, by gathering for a community bonfire. This bonfire signifies the burning death of Holika, who is an evil woman in a Puranic legend (Pati141-43). lui also told me the story behind the festival, Holi. She said, "It's actually celebrated because it's really popular with kids. You just have a lot of different colors, powdered colors, and you put colors on everybody. It's huge piles of red color, and you're supposed to put it on - everybody's face." When asked about the religious significance of this holiday, she replied, "Holi is done because an evil woman called Holika was killed on that day. She was evil to one of the nice men in the mythological stories. So we celebrate it because of that." Dussehra, also known as Durga Puja, honors the victory of good over evil. Dussehra is one of the most popular festivals, and each state ofIndia celebrates this holiday in a unique way (Indian Holidays). In the north of India, Dussehra is a celebration of the return of Rama, a character from an epic story. In this epic story Rama defeats an evil demon, Ramayana (Patil 75). lui has her own description of Dussehra. She explains, - 3 Dussehra is the celebration of the conquering of good over evil. On this day, you're actually supposed to go and meet all your elders to pay respect to them. I think that's all you do. We give a leaf shaped like [a heart]. You give it to people, because that's the tree under which the God, Rama, hid his weapons before he went to fight evil. That's what you give to everybody. That's what's for prosperity and good luck. The last major holiday, which falls in November, is Diwali. "Of all the festivals celebrated in India, Diwali is by far the most glamorous and important" (Patil 77). It is not surprising then that lui described the Diwali as comparable to Christmas in the United States. Although the religious significance of the Diwali varies from state to state, in the north of India, it is the day of the commemoration of Rama' s return from his fight against evil mentioned earlier in the Dussehra festival. In the south of India, the Diwali is a - celebration for Krishna's conquering of the demon of hell, Narakasura. This celebration, which is known best for its lighted candles and lamps, lasts a few days. Dhanatrayodashi or Dhanteras is the name of the first day of the Diwali. The three days of the Diwali are Dhanatrayodashi (also called Dhanteras), Chaturdashi (also called Chhoti Diwali), and Bhaidooj, respectively. The second day of the Diwali is the day when the people ofIndia light the candles and lamps in their homes. The entire festival is considered an auspicious time. Thus many people embark on new adventures such as business deals, marriages, or special projects (Patil 77-80). lui explained the religious significance of Diwali to be the returning of Rama from his battle. She went on to say that her family worships Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth.